Nagin Seeks Leniency As Sentencing Nears

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The lawyer for former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is asking a federal judge to go easy on Nagin when he is sentenced on 20 criminal counts on July 2.

Nagin was convicted in February on charges including bribery, fraud and money laundering stemming from his two terms as mayor from 2002 to 2010. Some of the charges carry maximum sentences of 20 years.

Friday's filing by defense attorney Robert Jenkins refers to Nagin as a first-offender with an otherwise clean criminal record. It says a stiff sentence for the 58-year-old Democrat would be a "virtual life sentence" and would pose a hardship on his wife and children.